We have just crept past the 44th anniversary of the brutal events that occurred in the quiet retreat of Lake Berryessa on September 27th 1969, where Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were enjoying life together, before the idyll of an autumn afternoon was cruelly snatched away by a man we have now come to know as the Zodiac Killer. There appears to have been little progress in the case in the intervening years, so is there anything in witness statements and analysis of Zodiac correspondence that can move the tragic events forward, or shed a little more light on the subject, however incrementally small it may seem?​We shall start with eyewitness recollections taken shortly after the brutal attack and the description of a lone male spotted close to the vicinity of the crime, having caught the attention of several key parties.

Earlier that day, three young women, students of Pacific Union College, had parked their vehicle at the A & W Root Beer on Knoxville Road, and within seconds of leaving their vehicle, a white male, driving a silver or light blue Chevrolet 2-door sedan with California license plates, pulled up to the rear of their car, bumper to bumper, yet remained inside his vehicle. This man would come into play later once the girls had relocated to the shores of Lake Berryessa, where it is believed they noticed the same man approximately 50 feet away observing them sunbathing. Each time they looked at him he evaded eye contact, thus drawing suspicion. He was described as being between 28 and 40 years, 200-210 pounds, 6 feet tall, styled black hair, with rounded eyes and thin lips, was good looking, with a muscular or stocky build, wearing dark pants and a dark pullover shirt. He remained observing them, by their accounts, for between 30-45 minutes. But in a curious observation, the girls described a white belt around his back, or possibly a T-shirt hanging out. Another girl stated he was wearing a black short sleeved sweater shirt bunched up at the front, again describing a white T-shirt hanging out the back. ​

Lake Berryessa sketch derived from the eyewitnesses

Did the bunched up sweater shirt hide anything sinister? Bryan Hartnell thought the attacker to be 20-30 years, with dark brown hair visible through the hood, wearing dark blue or black pleated slacks, 5' 8" to 6' 0" tall and 225-250 pounds. He also noticed a knife in a case on the right side of his belt, near the front of his trousers and cut up rope in the suspect's rear pocket. It was the type similar to white plastic clothesline. ​Could the descriptions given by two of the girls, describing a white belt around his back or white T-shirt 'hanging out', actually have been the cut lengths of plastic clothesline trailing from his rear pocket in anticipation of a prepared attack on the girls, but for whatever reason got cold feet, changed his mind and turned to Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard approximately two hours later. This is not a new concept but deserves more consideration. In both instances, if indeed this was the Zodiac Killer, he appeared to be observing the potential victims for some time at a distance, possibly waiting for the right moment to don his disguise and ready his attack.

During a later interview with Bryan Hartnell, a transcript revealed that the assailant had apparently stated: "I'm on my way to Mexico, I escaped from Deer Lodge Prison in Montana, Deer Lodge. I need some money to get there", and continued "I killed a couple of guards getting out of prison. And I'm not afraid to kill again". After the senseless attack on the young couple, the Zodiac Killer uses a marker pen and writes the dates of his murders on the car door of Bryan Hartnell's white Karmann Ghia, yet despite dating the attacks of Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs and the current attack, he fails to attribute the apparent murder of these two guards. That is because it is likely fiction, introduced into the conversation with Bryan Hartnell to indicate that he was not to be messed with.

1231 Main Street. Click image to enter Google maps

It has been questioned whether this attack is related to the previous attacks at Lake Herman Road and Blue Rock Springs, as the modus operandi varies dramatically in time, choice of weapon, theatrics and the very personal nature of the crime. The answer may have lain 27 miles away with the hanging receiver at the 1231 Main Street, Napa payphone. In the aftermath of the Blue Rock Springs Park double shooting, the killer placed a call from a payphone at the corner of Springs Road and Tuolumne Street. He later stated in his 'Debut of Zodiac' letter on August 4th 1969, "The man who told police that my car was brown was a negro about 40-45 rather shabbly dressed. I was in this phone booth having some fun with the Vallejo cop when he was walking by. When I hung the phone up the damn thing began to ring & that drew his attention to me + my car" And here lies the answer - he was unwilling to make the same mistake twice.

Was the man the three girls observed on this fateful day, the Zodiac Killer? - where the unusual observation and innocence of a hanging T-shirt may actually unearth the killer's true intentions during the afternoon of September 27th 1969, a day the world sadly cannot forget, yet at the same time should always be remembered.​​Descriptions of the eyewitnesses:#1. "A subject driving a late model silver-blue Chevrolet, 2-door sedan. This subject was described as 6' tall, weighing 200/210 pounds, muscular build, rather nice looking."#2. "Vehicle described as a 1966 or 1967 light blue Chevrolet with California plates. Witness believes the vehicle was a 2-door sedan and described the headlights as long rather than round."#3. "Subject was described as approximately 28 years of age, 6'1" to 6'2" tall, 200/225 lbs, black hair possibly styled, with a part on the left, rounded eyes, thin lips, medium nose, straight eyebrows, small ears, well built, rather nice looking."#4. "Vehicle was described as a late model Chevrolet, sky blue in color. The rear taillights appeared to be long rather than round. She described the subject as 6' tall, stocky build, about 200 lbs, black short-sleeved sweater shirt, dark blue slacks, and straight dark hair neatly combed. She guessed his age at approximately 30 years."

I attended Pacific Union College, years after the Lake Berryessa attack. Both A & W, and the lake were still, and probably still are, frequent destinations for students there. Friends and I went to both, many times.
The A & W is not on Knoxville Road, as the above article states. It is on Main St. in St. Helena. From the campus, half way between them, they are in opposite directions. About 25 minutes driving time to either one. It doesn't rule out the man seen at the restaurant, it just means that he needs a bit of time to get to the lake from there.
I do not recall any sunbathing spots near A & W. I had worked at another hamburger place just south of it, also on Main St.. A place known as Taylor's. The park in St. Helena is the only place I can think of that people might have done that activity, and it is a bit too far north to really see A & W from there.
It's been a long time since I last read the witness reports about the '66 Chevy, and the man in it. I'm a bit confused, as I don't recall the specifics, but I had been under the impression that they were at the A & W, which catered to the vegetarian students (about half of the student body) which Taylor's did not. Hence they were far more likely to be there, as vegetarianism is taught by the Seventh Day Adventist, which Pacific Union College is. I had just always pictured that they might be there, or very nearby. Mainly from the habit patterns of the kids I knew from there. Just a local observation.

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Richard

12/25/2014 06:19:41 pm

Thanks Pierce for the correction, and for the interesting information. It is always great to get local knowledge, adding some detail to the subject. Did you follow the Zodiac story down the years, because any further insights you could provide would be of great value. My problem is the detachment of living in another country, which makes investigation very limited to the internet. Hope to hear some more detail if you are willing. Cheers.

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Pierce Aero

12/25/2014 07:44:58 pm

I had no idea of any of it the first year I was there. The summer after my Freshman year, I dated a Senior girl, that took me to that spot for a picnic. After we had been there a while, she told me the story. It gave me the chills.
There was one thing that I keep thinking might be signifcant. It depends on if one believes the April '78 letter to be authentic.
I did not read that Graysmith book until around '98. When I did, there was a detail that he said the public had not known until the publication of his '86 book. It was the part of his M.O. that he had fastened a flashlight to his gun during the night time shootings.
That April 22, '78, Saturday, there had been a shooting up in the hills just above the college. I remembered it, as it was a place couples frequented, and I had just been up there. The incident was published in the weekly student paper, The Campus Chronicle, the following Thursday, April 27. The detail just stayed with me, as in those days, it was an unusual idea. Not like today, where in movies, the idea of a laser on a sniper's gun is common.
In '98 I went up there for a wedding, and made a side trip up the hill to the school library to see if my memory was correct. The dorm Resident Assistant from my college days, was now head librarian, and helped me find the article and determine that it was.
As only the police, the killer, and possibly Graysmith knew, it basicallly points to them as most likely involved. The killer, if it was a failed attempt, timed to the letter which would have had to be mailed before Sunday the 23rd, as there is no mail delivered in the U.S. on Sundays, or the police or Graysmith, if that letter was, as some believe, an attempt to revive the case.
It seems a small detail, but the paper was not available online, when I was there. Perhaps you might be able to contact the library to verify.
It is the unavailability of that flashlight M.O. to the public, that makes it seem to be connected, somehow.
There is another story connected to the case, involving another individual with a high powered rifle, aiming it at the men's dorm, in broad daylight, where that Librarian, Joel (I can't recall his last name, right now) and I lived in August '78. The exact date is in my notes from the time, somewhere in a box.
It was noon, and I was returning to the dorm from the cafeteria. I recall speaking to the man with the gun, as if his doing such a thing were perfectly normal, which seemed to calm him down. He was not ...normal.
He spoke of false accusations, and I agreed with him, that people were prone to such things. I had grown up in Hollywood, where many kids were children of folks that worked at nearby Warner Brothers Studios, and it was common fodder for the playgrounnd. (My 5th grade teacher was mother of the actor that played the Capt. on the Sci-Fi show, Land of the Giants, Gary Conway, and she was always angry about Tabloid lies about her son) He put the gun back in the open trunk of his car. There were other guns there, I recall. I was just used to dealing with my gun nut uncle who had done a few tours in Viet Nam, when I was a kid.
He gave a few hard looks to some guys that had been watching us all along. I only mention them because they were working on an EXTREMELY rare car. A one year only fuel injected VW wagon that had to have it's injection system rebuilt if it ran out of gas. Few made, fewer imported here. By EXTREME coincidence, it had appeared to have formerly belonged to the book store counter woman that had first pointed me to Graysmith's book. She was also at the Larkspur, from which Kim Wendy Allen had disappeared, on March 4, '72. She had said that they were best friends, both around the same age.
When I met her in '98, she told me the name she had given it; my name. It had been in the parking lot of the Larkspur store, where she had last seen her friend and co-worker. It was all made a bit more strange by that fact that I had once partially restored an abandoned car that Angwin locals had told me had once belonged to one of the Zodiac victims. I still have't figured out which one. It was not the VW Ghia, but a blue Spitfire. '70 I think. Several years old, with almost no miles on it. It was just that I had given it the same name as the book store woman, that I would not meet for 20 years.
I'm not suggesting significance to the coincidence that we named two cars reported to be somewhat connected to the events with each other's names, without knowing each other, I'm just saying that the unusual nature of the details certainly caused the facts to stick in my mind.
It's very late here in California. I hope I haven't rambled too much. I should get some sleep. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Richard

12/26/2014 12:11:34 am

Bearing in mind the Zodiac "I am back with you" letter, it is a very interesting recollection and information that is not widely known. The 1978 letter has always split the Zodiac community on its genuine origins, but nevertheless, it has to at least be considered.
I have scoured the internet and found your posts in 2009, placed up by The Foreigner on Zodiackiller.com here, it is a long discussion thread http://zodiackiller.fr.yuku.com/topic/6217/Pacific-Union-College#.VJ2B914jA and found the article here.
http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/6346/042778.jpg dated April 27th 1978, but because the article says "Two Pacific Union college students believe they were fired upon Tuesday night", it was calculated the shooting took place on April 25th 1978, one day after the 1978 Letter. Either way an interesting timeline considering the relevance of the college, Lake Berryessa, the spotlight reference and 1978 Letter combined.

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Pierce Aero

12/26/2014 04:05:58 am

Oh. I had always remembered it as being Saturday. Probably because most of the early attacks occur on what the Seventh Day Adventist consider the Biblical Sabbath, sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. It is one of the Hebrew Ten Commandments, right up there with, "Thou shalt not kill".
I remembered it frustrated me, as a kid, at the time of the murders, because all the kids at the school near the studios, were watching The Brady Bunch, and The Partridge Family, and we were not allowed.
Maureen Sterling, and Yvonne Weber were two such cases. Like myself, they were 12 at the time, and disappeared at the very hour that I had just missed "The Power of the Press" episode of The Brady Bunch, and the "My Heart Belongs to a Two Car Garage" episode of The Partridge Family. I was sent to my room for being angry I couldn't watch, like all the other 12 year olds in my class, some of whom auditioned for parts on the show, told that I must not think about the shows, my Hot Wheels, or G.I. Joes, but must reflect on an infinate God. Try as had, all I could think of was an infinate line of Hot Wheels and G.I. Joes. Lol. Reflecting on the fact that being forbidden to watch, was given equal weight as "Thou shalt not kill".
Was it that post where they actually scanned it? (I can't click on to that link) That would be the more accurate one, of course.
I had first mentioned my find on a web site, then moved into a separate place from my then girlfriend, around '00, and on my new computer, lost track of where I'd posted it. I guess some of them had gone up there to see for themselves, in the years after.
I could have sworn it was Saturday, as defined by the Adventists, for the above reason. As long as it's not just quoted, but is the one with the actual scan of the article. Either way, it was within days of the letter, I guess.
Another thing. The Adventist have a woman from the 1800s that they consider a Prophet, Ellen G. White, and many of them equate her writings to the Bible. If she said do not do it, it was read as "Thou shall not". She wrote against Theatre, as well as Sunday worship. To many it was forbidden. PUC had a Theatre Dept for a very short time. They had asked me to play a role in a stage production of that Woody Allen film, The Front, around mid-winter '78. I played the comic, played by Zero Mostel in the film. I remember a student telling me that I was good. Too good. I must have been possesed by the Devil. The Theatre Dept was shut down shortly afterwards.
In recent years, they got a hold of that kid, Angus T. Jones, from the American TV show Two and a Half Men, with Charlie Sheen. As soon as they had, I told all my non-Adventist friends, 'He's toast.'. His career would be over in less than 90 days. I wasn't far off. He parted from the show shortly after that. Acting was a "Thou shall not...".
I had attended the Hollywood branch of the Adventist Church. There members would accuse each other of "acting", up in front, as if the Church were Theatre. Pretending to believe, for vanity, as in, possesed by the Devil. I had been a toddler brought up to the front of Church (along with Little Richard) for children's story time. I had thought that all Churches were live on the air. Ha ha.
Later, I remember standing in the cafeteria line at Loma Linda, listening to the actor Clifton Davis (he wrote the Jackson 5 song, Never Can Say Good-Bye, and was at Michael Jackson's funeral) talk about a movie, The Elephant Man. He was speaking to a guy, Marc Breault, who would years later, become the right hannd man of the Branch Davidian leader "David Koresh", at the Waco Texas Cult seige. Marc was fascinated by Hollywood, and I was already considered sulllied for having acted in a play. Anyway, that stands out to my memory as being the day that John Lennon was shot. They were glad to hear the news, because his song, "Imagine", was considered atheist. HIS killer, had just come from working at an Adventist Hospital, where those beliefs would have been widespread, adding the sin of John Lennon having allowed himself to become an "Idol". They had also been glad to hear of J.F.K., as they had prayed for his death. They considered that bringing about both deaths, with the power of prayer, was God's will.
Mr. Davis got his Ministerial undergraduate degree at Loma Linda, and later was only allowed to "act" on one TV show, Amen, because he was playing a minister, and it was not seen as acting, because he was one. They hoped it would bring the Church to the public. Beyond that, his career faded, when he dared to take other roles. Little Richard's acting career was largely shut down by them, after one film role, Down and Out in Beverly Hills.
The reason all of this comes back to me is that they had gone after that singer, Jewel, for similar reasons to John Lennon. It would have ended her career.
I had met her here in San Diego, when she was still homeless, and worked with her right up until she became famous, which was when they

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Pierce Aero

12/26/2014 04:21:13 am

Oops. Lost a few paragraphs.
Basically I'd pointed out that in '69, Cecilia was a famous song about a fictional character, engaging in Lover's Lane type activities. Fiction is also considered a sin by the Adventists. There was much more, but I wasn't sure if I should have mentioned that singer I knew.
They went after her. They lied about her. Had I continued working with her, it would have been very detrimental to her.
The atmosphere among them was what made Cecilia's death seem unique. Perhaps even a copycat. Being glad, as they were that J.F.K. Jr had also died, it just seemed that they waved the death penalty around easily.

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Richard

12/26/2014 04:47:22 am

Thanks for the input, I see you cannot access the link. Mouse over home on the navigation bar on this site and click comments. There is the link to the forum there and the article courtesy of Sandy Betts.

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pierce.aero@yahoo.com

12/26/2014 05:57:02 am

Thanks. Rushing off. No internet 'til Sat. Later. :)

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Greg H.

5/6/2015 04:12:29 pm

http://www.zodiackillerfacts.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=470
A couple of other witnesses on this day, in addition to the young women mentioned, are a dentist and his son who were near the lake.. The link I found above is just a scratch of the surface.. The Graysmith books go into greater detail about the testimony of the aforementioned.. And there's likely far more info. about this attainable though web search engines...

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Reddit

7/14/2015 10:01:58 am

Big problem with Pat Stanley's account of the phone call. Pat Stanley writes:
The Napa County Sheriff's Department wanted to find the phone, and fast, so virtually any official with a radio was asked to help.

This reporter jumped into action. After a brief stop at the Sheriff's Department, I drove north on Main Street. Driving past a car wash and the historic Sam Key Laundry Building, I spotted a pay phone, but thought the call must have come from closer to the lake, nearly 30 miles away. At the last second, though, I swerved my car toward the phone booth and was shocked to find the receiver off the hook. Could this be the phone, I wondered?

So Pat drives away from the Sheriff's department at around 7.45. Instead of taking Jefferson or driving towards the hwy, he somehow goes right to the exact pay phone dramatically "swerving" . It just does not add up. Pat would have had to take Jefferson, go down send street and then go on Main street to Mike Blacks Car wash,bypassing 11 pat phones on the way... The pay phone would be hard to see at almost 8.00 PM., and it was getting dark by late September. If the reporter had assumed the call came from up valley, he would have taken Big Ranch Road off of Trancas and Soscol. Or even Silverado trail.Napa law enforcement have been the subject of all sorts of speculation, including murder, rape, molestation, etc. I believe the Zodiac is still alive and was a Napa resident and had strong ties to police and DA's, therefore he was in a position to watch carefully. Pat Stanley himself might have been guided to the phone by a suggestion made by the Zodiac himself. What if the Zodiac was a cop, reporter,etc in Napa and would purposely generate false info, in order to confuse? He was a known liar and he seemed more interested in fame and spreading fear, then in being "authentic" Does Pat Stanley's story seem fishy to you? It sure does to me. There is almost zero chance that a reporter suddenly happens upon the exact phone the killer used....and its also very odd the reporter did not mention that he had to pass 3 pay phones on Soscol, 5 on immoral, two more on Main Street,and miraculously finds the exact pay phone within 5 minutes of leaving the sheriff's Dept on Imola..NO WAY!!!!!

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Richard

7/15/2015 03:19:51 pm

Interesting thoughts, have never really considered this before, but it is certainly worth looking into. The Napa connection is certainly a viable one considering its close proximity to the first three crimes and his apparent knowledge of Lake Berryessa. I have always believed from the recreation angle that Zodiac had frequented this lake numerous times before, a familiarity and knowledge with such a remote area would be key to its selection as a 'hunting zone'.

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Greg H.

7/17/2015 09:55:58 am

Those are very interesting thoughts! I just googled Pat Stanley's account.Then used google maps and you are right !
Find out who Pat Stanley worked with, maybe a cop, or a tag team, etc.
You may be zeroing in here. If the Zodiac was a cop or a reporter, he would have access to the investigation. If he were a reporter, that would be very interesting, because Zodiac was a writer, seemed to have no issues finding the names and addresses of who to write,and purposely misspelled words. If true, then we can look at this case MUCH differently. He could have been mocking, and purposely creating false leads through his letters. Reddit, you know Napa better than me. As Richard points out, a Napa POI makes the most sense. The killer mostly killed outside of Napa and Berryessa is remote enough to be considered outside the city by almost an hours drive.So, following this same line of reason, if this guy was one of the Napa investigators, can we check those people out? If he was a reporter, would he have gleefully written about it, or even written articles pointing away from his guilt? This is fascinating. Reddit and Richard, interesting new ideas. You guys may be on to something not considered in 40 years.

I was living in Napa at that time and I believe that if the reporter was near the Sheriffs Dept, he could very easily have taken Main street north and could see the phone booth from that direction. It would have been only a couple of blocks from The Sheriffs dept. not several blocks as indicated above. I do believe that Zodiac could have been living in the Napa area , working in Vallejo.
For someone to take my white plastic hollow core clothes line prior to putting the Lake B costume in my" brown" car on Sept 28th or 29th 1969. He would have to know that area very well , I would think. My question is why would he plan to take my clothes line and then drop off the killing costume in my brown car, was he trying to frame my husband ???? Was that the reason for Zodiac to write that he was seen at the phone booth in Vallejo July 5th with a " brown Car "? There would be no reason to give such a clue to what he was driving, unless he had another reason to say that. People call tan cars brown, or even golden brown cars brown, there are many shades of brown. Kathleen Johns said the car was tan, Mike M said brown sort of like Darlene's car. The car I got away from in Vallejo 1968 ,was a golden brown car like a Mercury Comet, very much like Darlene's car.( No chrome on it ,as seen at Lake Herman rd in 1968 )
I do believe that car was the Zodiac's car that I got away from after my coil wire was taken. That was long before we knew about Cher Jo's car wire. Seems that is one way to disable a females car.

There was a A & W close to the lake, not the one in St Helena. I do believe that the 78 letter had connections to the couple who were shot at while they were walking at PUC. Those shots came for the area of the air port there, telling me that the Z could have been working there on planes and that would be why he wore wing walkers.
Pierce, the man with the gun that you spoke to, could you please tell us what he looked and sounded like? I was the one who gave TF the information about that shooting at PUC April 1978. I would like to know what sort of car problem did Hartnell have that day?

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PierceAero

1/7/2017 05:34:36 pm

Sandy Betts. I was not at PUC until '77 so I do not know much of what happened before that. I did have a car exactly like Darlene's rare Corvair. Except mine was a drop top. Not at all like a Mercury Comet. The airport would provide a quick and easy escape out of the area. The wings on the planes in that tiny airport would break off if you walked on them. Mostly. I don't think that is connected. I do not know of any car trouble with Hartnell's car. What is "TF"? The man I spoke to in August of '78 was tall lean and light haired. Not at all like most descriptions. I do not believe it was him. I do suspect he was being suspected.

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Pierce Aero

1/7/2017 05:36:26 pm

Also, I did not ever see any A&W at the lake. I'll ask some older friends.

I knew that Darlene's car was a Corvair,didn't it look like a Mercury Comet? TF was the foreigner. Zodiac was seen with light hair.

Pierce Aero

1/8/2017 01:51:40 am

"I was the one who gave TF the information about that shooting at PUC April 1978."
"TF was the foreigner. Zodiac was seen with light hair."
You gave information to a foreigner seen with Zodiac?
The light haired man I saw had an American accent. Not a foreigner. I asked A&W in St. Helena. They say they recall an A&W near Lake Berryessa in the 1960s, but do not recall much about it. I had never heard of it. I spent so much time at the lake in the summers, this was really a surprise.
The Comet is pretty different looking to us car collectors. Depending on the year, it was more squared off at the corners, based on the Ford Falcon, then the Ford Fairlane.

Pierce, Somehow you are misunderstanding what I am posting?
"The Foreigner" was who I gave information about the PUC 1978 shooting. She wanted me to giver her the names of the victims, I was asked by another investigator not to divulge that information, until he could write a report about it. So it looks like TF "The Foreigner" found you to get more info about it than what I had told her. I did not see a" foreigner" with Zodiac.The Mercury Comet was a car driven by a man who I escaped from in 1968 Vallejo, who I am very sure is the Zodiac.It was a golden/ brown color and fit the description of the shooters car which was possibly a Falcon at Blue Rock Springs.I lived in Napa and went to Lake B. all the time.The man I got away from in1968 sat low in the car, so my guess was that he was fairly short and stocky. He had a round face and curly brown hair, So he also looked like what Mike Mageau said the shooter looked like( That was his first description given in July 1969) He changed the description after talking to Det George Bawart, who had Art Allen as a suspect.Then he came up with the name of Richard as the killer, after talking to Tom V who had Gyke as a suspect. That tells me that Mike is easily influenced! Zodiac did not have a accent, but has a unusual sounding voice and talks slowly and monotone. ( Without expression). Zodiac is not a foreigner.The shooter of Paul Stine was believed to have lighter hair than the one at Lake Berryessa, that is another reason I believe that there were two Zodiac's.

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Pierce Aero

1/9/2017 03:23:46 pm

There were many "foreigners" in the student body. None of them informed me about the 1978 shooting. It was published in the newspaper. The first to be aware of it were campus security. A childhood friend of mine was one of them. From there, the report would have gone to the school paper, published every Thursday. Just about everyone on campus read that. I remembered. When I read Graysmith's '86 book in '98, I went to the PUC Library and looked up the shooting I remembered was timed to the same week. Later I mentioned in on a site, forgot which one, and they went up there and found it, since posting the news article online. The names of the students were kept from the public in that article, to protect them. Many students knew who they were anyway. I do not recall ever having heard anyone name them to the public. Mike had problems. There is another case in L.A. of a forgotten starlet, where witnesses were chemically impaired since the murder. All of the same difficulties that came up with Mike, occur there.
I hadn't heard of your situation, and know nothing about it. I just sold a '55 Buick Super, that had a dash that glowed yellow, but that might have been about the age of the plastic on the light lenses.

Do you happen to know of any car before 1968, that had yellow dash lights? It is something that Kathleen Johns said the car her abductor drove had. She also said that it had bucket seats and a center condole.
That fits the Mercury Comet as well, correct? I understand that dash lights could be replaced with color lights , but if yellow was something that was standard for any particular car, that would be important to know.

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Pierce Aero

1/9/2017 04:42:16 pm

Thanks Richard. I tried clicking on the link but it didn't work. Gotta roll. Back Tues.

I was one of the people who went up to PUC with one of their past students and did find the article. We also found the names of the couple who were shot at. We spoke to the person in charge of the music room where a plaque that was dedicated to Cecelia had been torn off of a piano. We asked that it be put back on that piano.It was upsetting to me to know that no one seemed to care anymore.We want all of the victims to be remembered. We will never give up on the hunt for Zodiac!

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Pierce Aero

1/10/2017 04:29:36 pm

I had never seen Cecilia's plaque. My cousin, a student who was also murdered there, a decade later, has one. It is a 4x4 post hidden under a plant near Winning Hall, with a little 3x3 bronze plaque on top. It is so sad.

Here is a link to the latest Z news.I looked for the correct place to post it, but no luck.
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2017/01/08/University-of-Pittsburgh-s-Students-Conquering-Cold-Cases-club-investigating-Zodiac-Killer-muders/stories/201612180033

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Pierce Aero

1/10/2017 07:18:17 pm

It was my cousin's fiance, that was about to become my cousin. Her ex, who worked in the financial aid office, shot her 6 times. Her name was Holly Ganir, and her ex was Randy Maluenda. He got 7 years with time off. It was as premeditated as any murder I've known about. My cousin was there as the guy was still holding the gun. He had been arrested with it a few nights before, and all 6 bullets had her name or initials on it. He put 4 in her head, 1 in her heart, and 1 in her left hand, as she was left handed. Randy had been giving me dirty looks for a year and a half. Had I trusted my intuition...